Pangolin Country Walks

With the ridiculous price of fuel forcing us to leave our shiny motors at home and public transport awash with Mr Cameron’s dreadful commoners, The Pangolin’s Rural correspondent, Diana Totter, poet and muse takes us on the first of a series of carefree strolls through our oft overlooked backwoods.

No 1. Glossop to Glossop via Strainer’s End and Big Nob. 6.2 miles. Going, easy, but with smelly bit near Stackdung Farm.

Leave Glossop on the A319. After four yards, turn left at the Haiwai Five O Tanning Centre into Poke Lane where little has changed since the fire of 2009. After 300yds look for a stile on the left whilst avoiding eye-contact with a big lurcher outside Scrap-R–Us. It is not dead. Mount stile. Note excellent view of back garden of No 47 Poke Lane. In good weather, resident Mrs Marion Feelie usually gets her kit off and doesn’t mind gawkers.

The hedgerow path rises gently through Stackdung Farm where you’ll often get a cheery “Sod off !” from Wilf Cramp who took over Stackdung way back in 2002, specializing in particularly pungent manure which he markets to other local farmers as a rambler deterrent.

Stackdung lane then takes you directly to the by-pass hard shoulder. Turn left again and its an easy five mile amble along the by-pass with its interesting selection of cars, vans, lorries and tankers, all going like the clappers because Glossop Council ditched its radar cameras months ago, to our starting point, the late Victorian but now sadly closed public conveniencies in the town centre. Look out in the last few hundred yards for Big Nob, bouncer at the Sultry Kow nightclub, who will be taking a late afternoon constitutional on his way to meet friends at The Pangolins Head public house. This popular watering hole stands less than 15 miles from another licenced premises, The Gummer’s Arms, built in 1843 to help slake the thirsts of local envelope sealers. 

But as this is nowhere near Glossop, further details are irrelevant.